2016 PKI Capstone &

Research Conference

Friday, April 29, 2016

Schedule of Events

8:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. Registration

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Presentations

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch Break

1:00-3:45 p.m. Presentations

3:45-4:00 p.m. Judges Break-out Session

4:00-5:00 p.m. Awards Ceremony

Welcome Conference Participants & Volunteers!

On behalf of the University of Nebraska, The Peter Kiewit Institute welcomes you to the sixth annual

Peter Kiewit Institute Student Capstone &

Research Conference in Engineering, Information Science & Technology

The Peter Kiewit Institute in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering and the University of Nebraska-Omaha College of Information Science & Technology is proud to host a student focused conference which features presentations of research and projects from students based at PKI, across the University of Nebraska and from other universities and colleges. The tracks align with the academic programs based at the Institute that are central to engineering, information science and technology as well as other research areas with emerging national significance. Assessment of student presentations at the conference will be made by independent, outside judges. The Institute welcomes attendance by faculty, students, industry partners and government representatives. The Institute expresses its grateful appreciation to the judges, faculty, staff and students who volunteered their time to make this conference an outstanding event. PKI is also profoundly appreciative of industry companies and government agencies that generously sponsored the presentation tracks and special events of the conference. Without the support of these individuals, companies and organizations the conference would not be possible. Thank you for joining us.

Sponsors

• We are grateful to the following for their support of the 2016 PKI Student Capstone & Research Conference.

Judges Julie Huff, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Chris Huff, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Hiranmayi Arora, Union Pacific

Shawn Tumey, Union Pacific

Jenny Estudillo, Southmost Drywall

Dr. James Foley, Johnson Controls Inc.

Grant Guenther, Hensel Phelps

Jerad Kuhl, Weitz

Yuliana Linares, Weitz

Anayeli Martinez-Real, Kiewit

Kathleen McGill, Johns Hopkins University

Ken Moreano, Scott Data Center

Garry Ruliffson, OPPD

Rebecca Stavick, Do Space

Undergraduate Presentations

Advanced Proximity Warning System Makenzie Peterson, Weyler Flores, Elias Sadat, David Vincent

CEEN, UNL Advisor: Professor Herb Detloff

The APWS is a practical solution to help prevent accidents involving heavy maintenance equipment at Union Pacific. This system provides a warning to heavy equipment operators in the case of a potential collision. The system works by dynamically tracking the relative location of nearby heavy machines, and triggering an alert to the machine operator if the machines are getting too close to one another. The design uses a GPS to track the position of each machine, and a short range radio module to send messages between machines. The radio module used in the design is also capable of very accurately measuring the distance between the machines (by keeping track of how long a message takes to go from one radio to another). The system can warn the machine operator using a 2kHz buzzer and an LED. The APWS also has an SD card that logs events to make sure that the system is being used properly. Since the system will be in harsh environments, the system was designed with durability in mind, especially the packaging.

Space Racer Curtis Blowers

ITIN, UNO Advisor: Dr. Doug Derrick

There are many genres of video games, ranging from First Person Shooters (where a player becomes the character they are controlling, shooting enemies with a weapon from a first-person perspective in a fictional or realistic world), to Role Playing Games (where a player controls a character in first or third-person perspective, using weapons, spells, shields, gaining experience to level up their character and unlock more abilities for their character). The vast majority of games fall into one of these genres. One of the oldest, and most well-established genres is Racing. As a result of this, one gameplay mechanic in particular has become stale, and re-used countless times, and that mechanic is the dimensions in which the race is being held. Every prior racing game has been set on a two-dimensional plane, or track of some kind. Space Racer is a new type of racing game that operates in the boundless, three-dimensional confines of outer space. The player is able to travel in three-dimensional space using thrusters and a waypoint to guide them to the finishing point. The player can use the gravitational pull from planets to increase their momentum, in an attempt to finish the race more quickly. While racing to the finish, the player will be navigating asteroid fields and avoiding running into planets. Running into a planet will result in the player’s death, as will hitting too many asteroids. Adding the third dimension to the “race-track” adds a breath of fresh air to the Racing Genre.

Reversing EXT4 James Percival

IA, UNO Advisor: Professor Henry Karpf

This presentation will be an in depth analysis and creation of a tool for forensic analysis of the EXT4 Filesystem. The presentation will go over what a filesystem is, the history of the EXT family, how the filesystem works, and a demo of a tool that I created. EXT4 is used across almost all *nix distributions and because of this fact, it is incredibly important that we are able to understand what is going on inside the hard-drives partitions. Potentially, data can be hidden in plain sight on the hard-drive without the knowledge of the user or the operating system. Without knowing how the EXT family works, an admin or forensic expert would not be able to do analysis on the drive to find out if there was malware or hidden data on the drive.

Front Step Grocery Saver Matt Reinig, Helal Hadad

CEEN, UNL Advisor: Professor Herb Detloff

Online shopping has grown exponentially in popularity over the last few years; now even grocery stores across the country are beginning to offer an online shopping and delivery experience for consumers. As is the case with many products that are purchased online and then delivered to the consumer’s residence, the consumer must be home at the time of the delivery in order to receive their groceries. This is a major detraction from the ultimate potential that online grocery shopping has to offer. The Front Step Grocery Saver is a thermoelectric cooler that is designed to hold groceries outside of a resident’s home in the event that they are not home at the time of the delivery. The Front Step Grocery Saver will allow online grocery shopping and delivery to provide the consumer with the maximum potential convenience. The Front Step Grocery Saver is a cooler with a built in thermoelectric fan to ensure the groceries are kept at a low temperature and a magnetic lock controlled by a barcode scanner to prevent theft of the groceries. The cooler has a small LCD display that shows the current temperature and status of the lock. This information is also transmitted to a website, in addition to information regarding the last time the cooler was opened, so that the consumer can view the status of their groceries at anytime and anywhere.

2016 ASCE Concrete Canoe Jackson Mahrt, Ryan Duren, Derek Schriner

CIVE, UNL Advisor: Dr. Shannon Bartelt-Hunt

Over the last eight months, through the American Society of Civil Engineer’s chapter at UNO, we formed a concrete canoe design team. Now for most schools this is nothing really all that new, but for our chapter, we had not successfully designed, poured and transported a canoe to the regional competition in the last 4 years. Starting from scratch, we knew next to nothing about how to build a canoe out of concrete and be competitive racing it, let alone getting it to float. With a strong core of motivated seniors, after much research and collaboration with professors, we got to work. It was very hard, at times, balancing school work and time spent on the canoe. However, the tight core of seniors on the team held each other accountable; emphasizing the importance of proving our school was capable of making a canoe out of concrete and competing. This last weekend, we did just that. With the help of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, we transported our canoe down to Rolla, Missouri and competed. We quickly embrace the underdog role that came with being a first year school. To many, it was a surprise our canoe passed the flotation test. What was an even bigger surprise, however, was our top ten finishes in every race we were entered at full strength in. It was truly a great experience and we hope the underclassmen on our team can continue our success for years to come

Finding Methylation Patterns in Aging Related Genes Brock Lewis

Informatics, UNO Advisor: Dr. Dhundy Bastola

Aging is a process that occurs in every organism, and it is often characterized by changes in health and other physiological areas. In some genes there is a different level in their expression when an individual ages, and these changes are not completely understood. Often, changes in expression are due to differences in the total methylation of a gene. Methylation of cytosine nucleotides within the genetic code serves as a form of epigenetic regulation of a gene’s expression. The goal of this research project was to find if there is any correlation between aging related genes and methylation patterns in the human body. Aging related genes were taken obtained from the GenAge database, and methylation data from both the brain and the liver was pulled from the GEO repository. After combing the aging related genes with their corresponding methylation information we were able to some correlation between aging related genes and methylation. In total there were 65 aging related genes with available methylation data. In the brain, 42% were hypomethylated and 58% were hypermethylated, and in the liver 97% were hypomethylated and 3% were hypermethylated.

SMIR Sam Church ITIN, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Doug Derrick Everyday terror organizations from around the world use social media to recruit, fundraise, and spread propaganda. In order to combat these malevolent groups and their influence, social media services actively remove their published content. Though shielding the general public from radical propaganda is useful, in order for researchers to best understand these terror organizations they must be able to view and analyze the content they are publishing. Social Media Influence and Radicalization (SMIR) is a system for collecting and analyzing content published by terror organizations before it is removed. SMIR is both a web crawler for collecting social media content (and data from the sites linked to within messages), as well as a system that enables researchers to search and analyze collected content. SMIR is a system used here at UNO for studying terror organizations and hopefully in the future will be shared with other universities across the country.

Identification of Genes Involved in Diauxic Shift of Saccharomyces cerevisiae through Gateway Node Analysis

Emily Pachunka Informatics, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Kate Cooper The use of high-throughput assays, or experiments yielding large data sets, in biological research has become a standard practice in laboratories throughout the world. Because such investigations have the ability to produce high volume and comprehensive data sets, it is then important to develop methods that allow researchers to quickly pull meaningful information from an overwhelming amount of data. Network modeling has become a popular technique for visualizing and analyzing large biological data sets. A network is a basic graph with nodes and edges (i.e. social networks) that also integrates complex principles of graph theory for deeper analysis and pattern discovery. In biological research, networks have successfully modeled protein interactions within a cell, gene expression rates, and the correlation or relationships between gene expression when zooming into a specific biological pathway or process. In my research, I have collected gene expression data for network modeling and pattern discovery in the hope of identifying key genes involved in the shift that yeast undergo from active proliferation and development to a state of dormancy, or the diauxic shift. Using a method called gateway node analysis, I am aiming to analyze gene expression networks for dense regions, or clusters, which may elude to genes under similar gene expression regulation. Then, gateway node analysis will allow me to predict specific genes that may be responsible or important for this shift. This analysis technique, once further validated, could serve to predict genes involved in many biological pathways for disease research and other medical applications.

Functional Redundancy in Compound nDNA and mtDNA Mutations in Cancer

Emily Pachunka Informatics, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Dhundy Bastola With the rapid advancements in sequencing technologies over the last several years, biomedical scientists are now able to more easily identify somatic mutations that have accumulated in samples of diseased tissue. It is understood that such somatic mutations are the drivers that cause tumorigenesis, setting normal, healthy cells on the path toward cancer. However, there is still a large gap between identifying these mutations and revealing their significance in each gene, cancer type, or even individual patient. Through my research, I have focused heavily on the somatic mutations in protein-coding genes found across 33 types of cancer, using data retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Specifically, I explored the prevalence of both nuclear DNA (nDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in genes that encode for proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), hoping to identify a mutually exclusive relationship between nDNA and mtDNA mutations within OXPHOS. It is hypothesized that compound mutations within the same biological pathway would be functionally redundant, and hence, would not be found in nature. Such research may offer more insight into the behavior of cancer and its accumulation of gene mutations that lead to a transformation from normal physiology to diseased pathology. Further, as scientists continue to reveal the mutant genes that have heavy impact on tumorigenesis, targeted therapies for cancer treatment could be developed to counteract the harmful metabolic shifts that occurred as a result of such genomic variance.

Water Quality Control Collin Petri CIVE, UNL Advisor:

There has always been an issue with water quality control since we can remember. Although this issue has improved throughout the ages as technology has advanced, there is still an issue. This can be seen in Flint, MI currently as they are struggling with lead contamination in their taps. There are solutions to fix these issues, ones that are sustainable and cost effective. These could even be implemented in third world countries that don't have the resources to be able to maintain a water treatment plant that one would see in the United States.

UNO-forum.net Danny Pachman

ITIN, UNO Advisor: Dr. Doug Derrick

College students suffer from a profound lack of information as they choose their courses. The brief descriptions in course catalogs do not adequately summarize long and complex course curricula. Student feedback for college courses is also insufficient because course evaluations do not come until the end of each semester, after it is too late to make changes that affect the current class. UNO-Forum.net is a website that addresses these problems at the UNO. The website provides more information for students registering for courses and facilitates course feedback before end-of-semester evaluations. On the website, each course at UNO has a forum for overall course feedback and another forum for comments and questions about the current state of the course. Each instructor is listed with their syllabus document and a link to send them an anonymous email, similar to the “open feedback” section of anonymous course evaluations. UNO-forum.net is different from ratemyprofessors.com because UNO-forum.net focuses on course curricula rather than individual teaching styles. UNO-forum.net is also different because it emphasizes new idea generation so that courses may evolve in time with rapidly changing job markets.

Platinum Pointe Land Development Nicholas Williams, Taylor Jurgens

CIVE, UNL Advisor: Dr. John Stansbury

The 150 acre site southeast of the 132nd and Pacific Street intersection is being redeveloped. In the northeast corner of these 150 acres is a plot of land consisting of 30 acres. The new owner of this land requires that that this 30 acre plot be redeveloped as a mixed-use development consisting of multiple buildings, roadways, and greenspaces. The presentation given discusses the development of these 30 acres and focuses specifically on the structural aspect of one of the buildings in the development as well as the traffic control and roadways that make up the transportation engineering side of this development. The structural half of the presentation covers a 3 story building consisting of a grocery store on the first floor and office space on both the second and third floors. Discussion will be made concerning such things as the types of members used in the building and their orientation. The transportation half of the presentation covers the roadway orientation chosen to efficiently move traffic throughout the development. This includes such things as the signage selection and placement as well as intersections where stop lights will be used. This presentation gives an insight into what it takes to plan for and design a mixed-use development in the middle of a city. There are many aspects to consider when developing a new plot of land. Structural and transportation engineering are two crucial aspects of this process and thus must be given the utmost attention and consideration.

Web-based PE File Analyzer Mickey Hefley

IA, UNO Advisor: Dr. William Mahoney

Portable executable (PE) is a file format that instructs the Microsoft Windows operating system how a program is to be executed in both hardware and software. There are many ways to analyze a PE file but none of them are web based. The web application I developed allows for PE files to be analyzed and saved for future viewing. It offers a feature rich user interface and has the ability to analyze all information stored within a PE files. This allows engineers to quickly and effectively analyze PE files online without the need of a third party application.

A Computational Framework to Identify Structural Features Associated with Asymmetric mRNA Localization to Mitochondria

Kaitlin Goettsch Informatics, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Dhundy Bastola The mitochondrion is an energy power house in a human cell. The genome present in a human mitochondrion contains genes that code for 13 proteins. However, with advancements in proteomic and genomic technologies, we know that modern-day mitochondria are comprised of over 1,000 proteins. These proteins are transported to the mitochondrion from the center of the cell via a molecular signaling system. This system is traditionally composed of transport machinery and a short signal at the beginning, or N-terminus, of a protein. These N-terminal signals are found in, and are believed to be responsible for, the localization of 40% of human mitochondrial proteins. The rest of proteins found in or around proteins must localize using an alternate mechanism. Some studies have found evidence pointing towards the localization of the mRNA transcript of a protein as a potential mechanism for asymmetric localization of proteins throughout a cell. The mRNA is transcribed from the genome’s DNA and then translated to produce the protein. The tail end of the mRNA is the section reputed to carry the localization signal, putatively in its secondary structure. We have built a computational framework to investigate the mRNA structural signal’s specific location and to attempt to characterize the same.

Developing a Cryptography Website for Education

Mickey Hefley

IA, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Robin Gandhi

There has always been a concern with sending reliable secure information. Cryptography for years has ensured users privacy by using complex procedures to scramble information. Learning about cryptography can be a challenging task. It is almost essential to learn about historical ciphers before proceeding to learn about ciphers used today. The website developed hopes to bridge the gap to help students and professionals develop a better understanding of cryptography through lectures and hands on worksheets.

Mclarren Park Development

Andrew Hilgenkamp, Brennan Beam, Mark Mainelli

CIVE, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Tian Zhang

The purpose of this project was to develop the 150 acres of the old ironwood golf course on the intersection of 132nd and Pacific streets in Omaha, NE. The north east corner of the lot was designed to be used as a 30 acre mixed use area. The design of this area used the five sub disciplines of civil engineering and week meet all codes and regulations enforced by the City of Omaha.

ASHRAE Student Design Competition 2016: HVAC System Selection

Mycah Suddarth

AE, UNL

Advisor:

I will be submitting a report that was prepared for the 2016 ASHRAE Student Design Competition. I was a part of a team who participated in this project. My team members will be presenting the project at the Capstone Conference. Because I will not be able to attend, I have prepared this report for my participation in the conference. Scope of the project: My team and I were tasked to select a HVAC system that would meet the needs specified by the owner. We were given a set of guidelines to follow in our design, and then were free to dream up the best mechanical system possible that would fit in the given building. The report is a summary of the design we arrived at though careful load calculations, life cycle cost analysis, and research.

Smart Sculpture Art

Joseph Eley, Mitchell Bruckner, James Percival

CSCI, UNO

Advisor:

Facial recognition is a computer program capable of identifying a person from a digital image or photograph. It has many applications in the Information Technology context. However it can also be used for many things in other areas such as art. Our capstone project combines elements of facial recognition, age estimation, and gender estimation, and integrates it into the face of a statue. The project was built on a Raspberry Pi with a Raspberry Pi camera module and an external screen. These hardware elements plus the expansive biometrics software framework called Open Biometrics allowed us to create an interactive sculpture that displays output inside of the head of the statue based on elements of facial recognition.

Open Up Jake Weskamp, Avery Miller

CEEN, UNL Advisor: Dr. Peng

Our project, Open Up, is a multipronged access control system designed for a dorm room. It allows access via three different methods: knock code, RFID cards, and an Android app with a Bluetooth backbone. The knock code uses a piezo sensor to read in a pattern of knocks on the door and matches it to a recorded pattern. The system allows for new knocks to be recorded with the touch of a button in the event a knock sequence is compromised. The second access method is an RFID sensor/card system. This system features the ability to add a user, remove a user, and clear all users using the card interface. The last access method, a Bluetooth enabled app, sends an access code to the microcontroller to be authenticated. When access is granted using any of the three methods, a servo motor open the door from the inside. Open Up allows students to have a secure door room without having to carry keys. It also allows students to give access to other people without making copies of keys. Open up modernizes dorm room security.

Appsky Labs Taylor Korensky

ITIN, UNO Advisor: Dr. Doug Derrick

For years, individuals and small businesses have had to choose a software development company to suit all of their needs by themselves. This process can be daunting and confusing for those unfamiliar with the industry and its options. Often this results in costly and lengthy development that the user was not prepared for, making the process stressful and complicated. Appsky Labs is a different kind of software development company. It hopes to solve this problem by providing a unique customer centered development experience. Appsky Labs innovates on the traditional software lifecycle by providing dozens of semi-customizable templates for iOS, Android and Web, allowing the users to pick only what is most important to them and their industry. By using cross-platform templates and a cloud database system driving the development, Appsky Labs has shortened the typical development time for two native applications and a website from six to nine months, to just 30 days. This allows Appsky Labs to provide customized software to small to mid-size businesses for a fraction of the cost that a typical development company might charge. Appsky Labs has the ability to update app and website content, change page layouts, and re-theme any template chosen by the customer on the fly, without waiting for the lengthy application submission process. By creating a unified system, we hope to provide customers with an easier alternative to the large software companies in the market, and give them an experience that they are proud to share with others.

Capstone Colony: Last Conflict Brian Buckhart, Tim Burkhart, Sean Hartfield, Chase Steenbock

CSCI, UNO Advisor: Dr. Harvey Siy

Modern video games use the idea of dialogue options to allow the player to choose a unique progression path through a story. These options lock a player into a series of actions they cannot change. In real life, the facts and details of a situation can become apparent after a decision has been made which leads to a person changing their minds. In many video games this occurrence is not reflected. Our goal in this project was to combine the various talents of our group to create a video game with the Unity engine. We would tackle this problem by creating a plot that can change based on the actions of the player and not solely the dialogue options presented to them. We also wanted to combine the genres of first-person shooters (FPSs) and massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) to further provide a more unique gaming experience for the player. Our solution was to throw the player into a world embroiled in a war between two factions which has reached critical point. The player chooses their affiliations based on what they learn about each of the factions as they progress through the game. As events progress and new viewpoints are shared with the player they may realize their choice in affiliation was a mistake and take steps to change that. We hope by providing the experience of consequences based on actions and not dialogue choices, players will resonate more deeply with our game and enjoy it.

Air-Data Electronic Receiving System Trevor Hoke, Evan Stohlmann, Travis Zoucha, Jun Jie Liang

CEEN, UNL Advisor: Professor Herb Detloff

The Air-Data Receiving and Electronic System (ARES) was sponsored by Specialized Air and Hydronic Balancing. The goal of the project was to shorten the amount of time it took an employee to take Air Pressure readings from the company’s Air-Data Multimeters (ADM-860C). The solution the Team came up with was to eliminate the time spent by employees walking back and forth between the instruments, which adjusted the Air Pressure, and the sensor that measured it. ARES uses two main components to wirelessly send Air Pressure data between the sensor and the employee. The first component is the ARES Watch. The Watch is worn by the employee and gathers Air Pressure data. The gathering of data is done by user request then at the users request stores it into internal memory. The Watch gathers the Air Pressure data wirelessly from the ARES Hub. The Hub, when requested, will gather a reading from the Air-Data Multimeter. Both components are designed for portability and can connect to a personal computer. This connection is used for charging on both components and to transfer saved Air Pressure data to an online database using the Watch. From this database the company can review Air Pressure readings with a timestamp which gives the specific date and time each reading was taken.

The IndePendant Christopher Mayo, Matt Wiebelhaus, Brandon Turner,

Wayne Osborn CEEN, UNL

Advisor: Professor Herb Detloff The purpose of this project is to meet the need of elderly and disabled persons who require a way to contact family members or caretakers in the event of a medical emergency. Team 2 formed to meet this need, and in doing so, designed and created the IndePendant; a device that allows the user to speak to user-determined contact persons over a bidirectional audio connection. When the button on the pendant is pressed, the wireless microcontroller inside makes contact with the smartphone application over a local wireless area network using Google’s GCN (Google Content Network). The pendant does this by employing the use the microcontroller previously mentioned, a codec chip to pass the voice data as low-bandwidth audio, two amplifiers for the microphone and speaker, and a power system that is efficient enough to keep the system active for over a week in low-power mode. The power system of the pendant uses a 500 mAh battery and wireless transmission as its method of power transfer to charge it, allowing the case of the pendant to be sealed completely due to the lack of plugs. The final version of the pendant that was produced was 3D-printed in ABS plastic and sealed with silicone gel. Water submersion testing has proven that this device is completely water-proof and dust ingress testing with talcum power has proven the device to be impervious to dust as well. This device interfaces with the android smartphone application seamlessly and allows the user of the pendant to communicate with the user of the application with clear audio. The Team believes that this device is a solid alternative to the expensive devices already on the market that often require a monthly subscription that can be too costly to individuals living on retirement income.

Video Control System Komlan Asiobo, Taylor Balm, Abdul Al-Khatri, Abdul Al-Abri

CEEN, UNL Advisor: Professor Herb Detloff

For the capstone project of our Team Six, a decision was made to research and design a Video Control System for a Drone. Emergency services such as police and fire departments require a system allowing them to access a disaster area, for the instance, that they don't have easy access to. Every member of these emergency services is a valuable asset to the group so the system must be fully operable by only one person. Team six has designed a video control system that can be mounted onto a drone. The system offers a hands-free method of controlling a camera’s position while simultaneously allowing the user to view the video feed from the camera. The camera’s position is adjusted according to the user’s head position freeing the user’s hands to control the flight of the drone. This allows a single emergency service personnel to efficiently survey an area. Detailed engineering analysis, assumptions and parameters are used in the design process to active expected results. The video control system design process was to research and design the system circuitry followed by packaging design, software design, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design, breadboard testing, packaging and PCB assembly, Camera mount assembly, final design testing. Engineering design criteria, safety measures, socio-political and economical measures are satisfied with our design. Design presentation will give us an opportunity to fully demonstrate our project and explained the engineering design process. This design project is being produced and submitted by four engineering students, Komlan Assiobo, Taylor Balm, Abul Al-Khatri, Abdul Al-Abri, in Team Six in order to receive their Bachelor's of Science Degree in Computer and Electronics Engineering in PKI (Peter Kiewit Institute), college of Engineering, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln.

In-silico Modeling and Analysis of Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy

Andrew Pulfer Informatics, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Bastola Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is one of the most common inherited optic neuropathies and the most common known mitochondrial disorder. This disease causes a gradual loss of eyesight in young adults and can lead to severe visual impairment or blindness. The condition occurs due to one of four mutations of a gene that is a component of complex 1 in the electron transport pathway which leads to a wide variety of effects. These interactions impact several complex cellular pathways which have interactions that can be difficult to understand without looking at the cell system as a whole. Through the creation of a Boolean computer model of the cell system, the cellular pathways affected by the disease were investigated. Boolean models of cell systems identify proteins or compounds as nodes in a network and their interactions are translated into Boolean expressions and shown as edges connecting the effected nodes. Models allow for the simplification of complex systems while retaining the complexity of pathway interactions. This model was created through review of current literature on both LHON and retinal ganglion cells. Each interaction was translated into Boolean logic in order to simulate the cell processes in-silico. This model was then used as a proxy for an actual cell system in order to test cell signaling in both diseased and healthy cells. Through the manipulation of this model the pathogenesis of the disease was researched and potential targets for treatment plans were identified.

TEMPO Irene Haorei, Ryan Plummer, Quinton Stump, Austin Diver

CEEN, UNL Advisor: Prof. Herb Detloff

The purpose of TEMPO is to provide an inexpensive mobile musical recording system that accommodates for a variety of instruments and microphones. In order to provide an inexpensive mobile musical recording system, a device comprised of a PCB with standard electrical components that converts analog audio signals to digital data was designed. The data is transmitted via Wi-Fi to a Java-based recording application that stores the data into a standard musical file format for use with other software. The device is encased in a 3D printed plastic package to protect the inner workings of the device. By designing and constructing TEMPO, the team provided low-budget musicians with an affordable alternative to wired digital audio interfaces currently on the market while freeing users from the physical restriction of cables. The completed product has been developed over the course of the 7-month class period and within the project budget of $290. The device weighs less than 6.5 oz. and has a volume of 14.39 cubic inches for portability. The total duplication cost of the device and recording desktop application is estimated at of $46.60 each at economic scale. This provides competitiveness with current products on the market for $100-$200. While the TEMPO system currently meets 8 of the 10 success criteria, there are ways the project could be improved or could have been accomplished more efficiently. Recommended improvements are discussed in the project report and must be implemented before marketing the TEMPO recording system.

Laser CeeNC: Wireless Control for Laser CNC

Isaac Lindgren, Alex Nelson, Christian Gonzalez, Zachary Mitchell

CEEN, UNL

Advisor: Prof. Herb Detloff

The Laser CeeNC project involved developing a wirelessly accessible control system for a laser CNC etching machine. An iterative design approach was used to develop an electronic system that includes a laser power control system, two motor controllers, WIFI wireless, and emergency shutoff systems. The resulting prototype fulfills the objectives of accuracy, accessibility, cost effectiveness, and safety.

HVAC System Selection for Building in Beijing

Danielle Passiglia, Grady Henrichs, Kevin McIntyre

AE, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Joe Hazel

The goal for this project was to design the Mechanical system selection for a two-story government, administration, and office building in Beijing, China. The system selection is based off a Life Cycle Cost Analysis approach. Two or more systems were compared against one another and chosen based on best performance, cost, and efficiency. The system selected has to abide by ASHRAE 90.1 standards. The final selection is chosen from a decision matrix taking in account cost, payback, occupancy comfort, and overall energy efficiency.

Lighting Design for the Girl Scouts of America Maggie Findall

AE, UNL Advisor: Dr. Eble-Hankins

This project was completed as a part of the AE4250- Lighting Design curriculum. Students were provided with a generic building space and were asked to complete a lighting design. The given space included a large teleconference/meeting hall and a prefunction space. Students were asked to choose a client, develop a character sketch and concept, and make architectural changes to the space. Upon developing the client identity and adjusting the space to fit their needs, a full lighting design was performed. This included massing sketches, coning diagrams, and computer modeling. The client for the this design is the Girl Scouts of the USA. The space and architecture were modeled in Trimble SketchUP and the lighting design and renders were completed in Autodesk 3DS Max Design.

Vital Catalyst, A Lighting Design for the DoE Kevin Seton

AE, UNL Advisor: Dr. Eble Hankins

This project proposes and evaluates a lighting design for a multi-function space for a theoretical project designed for the United States Department of Energy. The vision for this space is for it to be leased to energy technology developers. The space programming where lighting design was implemented are as follows: ceremonial stairs, lobby, façade, and atrium. In the concept development of the project, the design concept of “Vital Catalyst” was developed after studying the character of the Department of Energy and its accomplishments. A character sketch was crafted to embody the spirit of this concept and guide the design of the project. IES handbook recommended lighting practiced was used in the design of the special requirements. The schematic design began to translate the concept of a Vital Catalyst into lighting design through the development and progress of the architecture, massing sketches, and drawings. The final solution to the project was developed in this stage. SketchUp 3D modeling software was used to develop the geometry of the space, then modeled surface properties and lighting calculations and renderings with Autodesk 3ds Max Design. The final design meets energy code and very closely matches the initial design criteria, and I believe it successfully represents our design concept and the spirit and goals of the Department of Energy.

Youtubeindex Jesse Moseman, William Young, John Viernes

CSCI, UNO Advisor: Dr. Harvey Siy

Currently, there is an abundance of video based content on the web. YouTube is the biggest online video repository. YouTube lacks the ability for users to index their content. Our project provides a user populatable table of contents system to any video on YouTube. By table of contents, we mean users can create headings and subheadings easily and append timestamps to them. After the index has been created, users can click the index and it'll go to the correct part in the video. This is highly beneficial for videos that are lengthy like MIT open courseware lectures or even coding tutorials. You can view the application on this live azure endpoint. This url goes to a video that will tell you how to use the application. http://youtubeindex.azurewebsites.net/Home/Index/5NHFIJKK6ME

Correlation Networks to Identify Causative Relationships from Gene Expression

Grogan Huff Informatics, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Kathryn Cooper Genes that share expression conditions show a biological correlation, and no modern method of visualization displays these intricate co-expression patterns better than a graph. Structural observations about this graph reveal the secrets of the biological system that it models. Present day graph theory and network analysis show potential for drawing conclusions from large volumes of biological systems data, however, work remains to confirm the appropriateness and scope of such methods for specific, scientific application. Toward this effort, it is our intention to generate a correlation network of individual genes as nodes and their measured co-expression values as edges. Gene expression data is available to the public from the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s Gene Expression Omnibus genomic data repository. With the aid of the Holland Computing Center’s Tusker supercomputer, pairwise correlation values that would take weeks to calculate can be returned in minutes. Neo4j, a native graph database, will house our correlation network and provide the means to leverage data relationships, such as powering our technique for identifying co-expression triangles. From this data-set, we will predict shared transcription factor regulation among genes showing similar upstream genomic sequences and high clustering coefficients within their respective modules. Finally, our predictions, and thus the model itself, will be contrasted against experimentally confirmed gene regulation data. Our process will test the hypothesis that correlation networks can predict transcription factor co-regulation from gene expression data with high sensitivity and specificity.

Agile Methodologies: Motivation and the Need in Higher Education

Keegan Mahoney

MIS, UNO

Advisor: LaLeesha Haynes

The purpose of this report is to define and discuss the use of agile methodologies. Agile is becoming a more popular term within the information technology industry and this report will help those unfamiliar with its techniques understand how agile works. The goal is also to inform the readers why agile can be preferred over traditional methods. While reading this report, it is recommended to keep in mind that agile is an alternative to using the traditional systems development lifecycle method. It is recommended that agile adoption be correctly adopted by educating all members of the team. Correctly adopting agile can mean improved productivity for the team as well as a more collaborative core culture. This report also talks about how agile is important for college students to learn, in order to prepare and succeed in the rapidly changing IT industry.

Therapp

Autumn Swanson

ITIN, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Doug Derrick

The webapp that I'm developing is a therapy app for those who suffer from PTSD. I have researched three main therapies that are used for the app that people who need therapeutic on-the-go. It allows people who are either triggered in public or at home to use the app either on their PC, tablet, or mobile smart phone. It also allows for basic communication with other users on the website and has location services for

recommended therapists in the area.

Trend Tracker Andrew Peterson, Cyle Kling, David Danielson, Joel Thiessen

CEEN, UNL Advisor: Prof. Herb Detloff

Trend Tracker is a product that provides grocery stores with information about customer traffic patterns. By combining Trend Tracker’s analysis with inventory spreadsheets and other records, stores can make decisions based on real data instead of speculation. The analysis that this system provides is the number of carts passing through particular locations and how much time the carts are spending in those locations. This is accomplished through a system that utilizes a network of tags and readers that communicate using ultrasonic audio signals. Each shopping cart has a tag attached to it that is tuned to a unique frequency, which is used as its identification when it passes near a reader. When a reader detects a cart, it records this identification and records the date and time of the read. That information is sent wirelessly to a server, which sorts the incoming data by cart and calculates the time each cart spent at each location before storing the data in a database. A web application allows the user to view the data in this database, as well as filter it by location, date, and time of day. This will allow a grocery store manager or director to view the traffic trends in their store and better draw conclusions about the way the store is operating.

GCP Sensor Network

Cameron Entzminger, Royce Wilson, Michael Tritz, Cody Boardman

CEEN, UNL

Advisor: Prof. Herb Detloff

The Glacier Creek Preserve (GCP) is a nature preserve owned by the Department of Biology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The preserve serves as an education and research site for undergraduate and graduate students. There exists a variety of microclimates present at the preserve. Microclimates are local atmospheric zones that account for different distributions of plant and animal populations. Certain species of plants tend to prefer different hillsides along with different species of animals. There didn’t exist a way to monitor these microclimates until Team 10 was asked to solve this problem. Team 10 designed a solution for monitoring the microclimates along two hillsides at the GCP. A sensor network comprised of seven data gathering nodes, a central base station to collect the data, and a software tool to visualize the data gathered was installed on site. Each of the seven nodes measured soil temperature, soil moisture, and air temperature and transmitted this data back to the base station. The base station was a computer that received data from the sensor nodes and saved it to a database. The software tool was designed to be able to display the data on a two-dimensional graph and download the data for other uses. Seven nodes over a distance of a quarter mile was sufficient data resolution to effectively measure the microclimates of the area. The nodes needed to be weatherproof and be protected from rodents and other wildlife that lived on the preserve. The nodes needed to accurately transmit the received data 400m to the base station. The base station needed to be able to store at least one year’s worth of data. The data needed to be accessible from the local area network at the GCP. The data needed to be accessed and displayed on a two-dimensional graph. The project overall was successful. The installed nodes were able to accurately transmit the data to the base station. The software tool was able to access the database and display the data through an easy to use browser based interface. The number of nodes may be increased at the preserve by placing them further away from the base station. By doing so, a stronger transmitting radio module would be needed in the newer nodes. Another alternative to achieving a longer distance would be to install a repeater node at the maximum range of the current radio module.

Pizza Boys: A Made-to-Order Database

Joshua Clark

MIS, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Paul van Vliet

To fulfill the final course requirements in the MIS bachelor's program, The Pizza Boys partnered with Pizza West, a local restaurant. The objective, like many teams in the course, was to create an inventory database for the restaurant with the end goal of reducing waste and increasing the efficiency of the in-place inventory system. One semester dedicated to analysis, and another split between analysis and development have produced a Microsoft Access database and practical experience in project management and the work that is demanded by an endeavor such as this. The analysis process, database, and resulting insights are presented for your consideration.

Graduate Presentations

AEI Student Design Competition Submission: 888 Boylston St

Ben Mackenzie, Adam Mackenzie, Jacob Pulfer, Jake Clatonoff

AE, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Waters

.An interdisciplinary team of structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering students collaborated with professionals to create a design for a 17-story mixed use (office and retail) high rise in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. This design was entered into an international student design competition in the form of a Structural Design Narrative, Mechanical Design Narrative, Electrical Design Narrative, as well as a Building Integration Narrative that required students to create a fully integrated and architecturally aesthetic design through the coordination of innovative engineering systems. The overarching design goal was to create an design that would serve as an icon of the sustainable built world through the implementation of innovative technologies reducing energy consumption in an effort to eliminate the use of natural resources. A hybrid geothermal/sea loop heat rejection system in combination with photovoltaic panels realized substantial energy savings, while a reduction in office floor-to-floor height (14’-0” to 13’-0”) allowed via exhaustive interdisciplinary coordination realized a significant reduction in upfront construction cost and material usage. Rainwater collection was paired with an interactive site-wide lighting and notification system as part of the Public Sustainability Knowledge (PSK) Initiative as a way to inspire the public to adopt more sustainable habits. This project was aided by a team of 30+ professional engineers, architects, and managers assembled by the faculty as a way to build relationships between students and the surrounding professional world while providing detailed technical advice, guidance, and feedback. Teams of licensed professionals met with students at multiple phases throughout the design, offering guidance during the schematic design phase as well as thorough review of design as the project progressed. Not only did this professional partnership give students resources and levels of feedback that are simply not available in the standard classroom, but the benefits for students to interact with industry on a regular and technical basis goes without measure. All students on the design team have successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and were asked to create code-compliant designs that exceed energy savings as defined in ASHRAE 90.1-2007 by a minimum of 50%. In an effort to further push the performance of the building, students adopted several design practices defined in ASHRAE 189.1 (Design of High Performance Buildings), resulting in a LEED Platinum building. The understanding of codes in various jurisdictions is a vital part of being a successful professional engineer and is essential in creating a safe design for the public. Through the continuous interaction with licensed professional engineers and exposure cutting-edge sustainable technologies and construction practices, this interdisciplinary design project constantly pushed students to grow in their technical ability, communication skills, and professional development in numerous and crucial ways.

Efficacy of Multiple Anticancer Therapies May Depend on Host Immune Response

Kritika Karri Informatics, UNO

Advisor: Dhundy Bastola The host immune system is a key player in anticancer therapy response and resistance. Although the impact of host immune response in the ‘war against cancer’ has been studied and it has been the basis for immunotherapy, understanding of their role in attenuating the action of conventional anticancer therapies is an area that has not been fully studied. Lung adenocarcinoma is one of the most common cancer that is a leading cause of death in the United States. This subtype of lung cancer has a poor survival rate (average five-year rate of 15-17%). Hence, there is an urgent need for developing reliable prognostic markers to predict the success of the therapy being used so that effective treatment strategies can be devised. This study analyzed the RNA-seq expression data for patients suffering from lung adenocarcinoma, treated with four different anticancer therapies and demonstrated one of two response phenotype following therapy. In order to add utilitarian value to our research, we conducted survival studies and statistical analysis to identify a set of genes that are potential biomarkers. Overall, the work presented here sheds light on the importance of host immune response in successful intervention or resistance of anticancer therapy. Additionally, the results presented here provides a method to determine and use patient gene expression profile to develop a smart therapeutic intervention strategy based on a patient’s immune response profile.

LiveLog Emergency Chat Application Sheekha Singh, Bhavesh Jaisinghani

MIS, UNO Advisor: George Royce

MavConnect, a group of Master’s students in Management of Information Systems (MIS) at the University of Nebraska, Omaha,developed LiveLog, an emergency chat application for Douglas County Emergency Management Agency (DCEMA) as the students’ capstone project. This chat application allows multiple users to chat and provide updates from anywhere, anytime, during an emergency or crisis and capture information effectively and reliably. It consists of advanced features like password enabled chat rooms ("events"), ability to upload a document or any attachment to a chat message. This application also helps the admin to manage several events and users.Security of the application is handled partially by two different access levels: admin and user. While every regular user that has been registered into the system can access the application, join an event, and send messages, only administrator-level users can add new users, create events, manage users, manage events and export specific events’ event logs. The events are exported in a .csv format. Several additional enhancements are made to the application based on the client's requirements. The user is allotted an avatar and can update his/her Role. The authentication is taken care of through various validations on username and password criteria. To conclude the project, we provided DCEMA with several suggestions to enhance systemsecurity and functionality. For example, encryption of database tables would help added an extra layer of protection to user credentials. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) would also help ensure data passed between DCEMA’s server and users’ browsers remain private and secured.

Attendance and Alerts Web Application for Partnership4Kids Rakshit Rekhi

MIS, UNO Advisor: Dr. George Royce

Partnership 4 Kids is a goal setting and group mentoring program that builds hope for under-served students and helps them create a foundation for success from kindergarten to careers. Currently there are more than 5,200 students in 23 Omaha Public Schools participating in Partnership programs. The Problem When volunteers visit a school and conduct a session, they have to take attendance on paper and then hand over the paper to the P4K supervisors and then they manually add the attendance into their web application on their office desktops. Another inefficient process is the workflow of notifying volunteers and students in case of class cancellation or other important events. Usually P4K employees personally call all volunteers and students in case they need to make an announcement. Solution We developed a mobile responsive web application that provides the volunteers the functionality to take attendance in their classes and store the information directly into the existing Partnership4Kids web application database. The biggest improvement was the reduction in overheads by implementing the alerts feature that gives the clients the ability to send text messages to the students and volunteers. We also improved the overall efficiency of the existing application. Our vision was to help Partnership4Kids in their mission to impart literacy to underprivileged kids by helping them reduce their cost and effort in their day to day actions with the use of technology.

Computational Analysis Of HLA types and HLA expressions Sahil Sethi

Informatics, UNO Advisor: Dr. Dario Ghersi

Cancer is defined as altered cells that have escaped normal growth regulation mechanisms. The mutated proteins that are associated with cancer can be detected as a foreign body by the immune system, which can then eliminate the cells that harbor those mutations. In fact, evidence is rapidly accumulating that the immune system does indeed contribute to the body’s multilayered defenses against tumors. The big question is how the immune system can also recognize cancer cells as foreign agents and proceed to eliminate them. The difficulties associated with establishing this type of anti-cancer defense are apparent from the outset: the immune system is organized to recognize and eliminate foreign agents from the body while leaving the body’s own tissue unmolested. Cancer cells, however, are native to the body and are, in many respects, indistinguishable from the body’s normal cells. A critical component of the immune response against cancer cells involves an important class of molecules known as the HLA system, which is highly diverse in the human population. A deeper understanding of the type and expression levels of HLA molecules in human cancers could help find appropriate vaccination strategies at a personalized level. To address these questions, we use large-scale cancer datasets that are publicly available, and we employ computational tools to predict the HLA type and calculate the expression levels.

Enhancing Project Management Education by Simulation Saeed Rokooei

MIS, UNO Dr. James Goedert

Simulations are one of the new pedagogical tools that are presented as supplementary materials in higher education. Many fields, such as aviation, medical science, and business, are incorporating simulation applications into their programs and using them as a part of curriculum. However, the project management field suffers from an insufficient number of simulation applications. PERFECT is a project time management simulation application that was designed, developed, and tested at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln between 2013 and 2015. Two groups of students (with and without project time management knowledge) participated in the PERFECT test. The results of both groups indicated that PERFECT was an effective and engaging tool in project time management education. PERFECT provides a first module of the whole project management area and promotes pedagogical tools in using simulation as a rich supplementary tool in higher education.

Simulation of Quantum Algorithms Over Distributed Network Systems

J. Joel Van Brandwijk IA, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Abhishek Parakh For students and researchers alike, the field of quantum computing is difficult to approach. The nature of quantum computing runs counter to the intuitive framework applied to most other domains in the computer sciences. Specialized quantum computing systems are not readily available if they exist at all, making kinesthetic learning and experimentation difficult tasks. The difficulty in providing tangible demonstrations of quantum computers and algorithms provides the motivation for this thesis. In this thesis project we developed a tool for simulating quantum algorithms, including entanglement-based algorithms. The resulting tool aims to empower the learner, stimulate research, and enable experimentation. The tool is capable of simulating quantum algorithms across distributed network systems. Included in this requirement are demonstrations of quantum teleportation as well as cryptographic algorithms using unentangled and entangled qubits. This tool can be used to simulate various quantum cryptographic algorithms and thus verify calculations regarding their comparative efficiency and security. The theoretical contributions of this thesis work include a new method for implementing entanglement in a completely distributed manner and enabling operations and measurements on them. No other existing simulator provides this.

Visiting Nurses Association Scheduler Venkata Saran Kumar Voleti, Joseph Forsythe, Mayank Sawla,

Zachary Heath MIS, UNO

Dr. Pawaskar The Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) is a non-profit organization that provides in home and community health care services to patients in the Omaha-Council Bluff area. Currently, VNA faces communication challenges as their caregivers and patients schedules are ever changing. The existing process is manual and requires multiple phone calls to keep all appointment participants in sync. The problem is compounded by the fact that caregivers of VNA are often on the move and aren’t always accessible by phone because they are busy with patients. VNA and the Capstone C3 class teamed up to create a solution to help alleviate the communication challenges. The solution is a website that can be used on both desktop and mobile devices. The website provides secure access for all patients and caregivers to their upcoming and historical schedules. The solution has completely automated, in-depth data integration with pre-existing 3rd party systems; role-based frequently asked questions; user role management; and schedule change notifications. The application is integrated with google maps to provide direction to appointments and paypal to allow for easy donations. In addition, the application comes equipped with a robust administration panel that provides VNA the ability to self-manage their application to meet their needs without any code modifications. The administration panel comes with user analytics, configuration settings, data integration logs, and FAQ management. This newly developed application will not only enable VNA to better coordinate their appointments between caregivers and patients but it will also help them market their services and attract new donations!

Cracking: A DES Adventure

Brian Healy

IA, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Abhishek Parakh

The Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a 64 bit encryption form paramount to the foundation of modern cryptography. Moreover, it was developed by IBM and revised by the NSA to ensure the protection of sensitive data. Although it has long since been deprecated due to inherent weaknesses in its short (56 bit) length, a three-fold iteration has succeeded the former to provide a theoretical key size of 168 bits known as 3DES. While the simple repetition of encrypting it three times improves security, it becomes vulnerable to a Meet-In-The-Middle attack as does any repetitive crypto schema. Our presentation will delve into the intricacies of this attack whilst also presenting a working Python code base. Boom son.

Forward Osmosis: Water Flux Prediction Based on its Real Driving Force

Kang Rong

CIVE, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Tian Zhang

Forward Osmosis (FO) is known for its low energy consuming in water treatment, but the water flux is low. The main reason is that the real driving force in FO process is small compared to the theoretical one. The knowledge gap is how to evaluate the relationship between real driving force and theoretical driving force in the FO process, as well as how they change under different experimental conditions. And then predict the water flux based on its real driving force. In order to gain the goal, standard method was developed in this study, in order to

acquired data needed for the evaluation of FO process.

The EZSMT Solver: Constraint Answer Set Solving meets SMT Benjamin Susman

CSCI, UNO Advisor: Yuliya Lierler

Constraint answer set programming is a promising research direction that integrates answer set programming with constraint processing. It is often informally related to the field of Satisfiability Modulo Theories. Yet, the exact formal link is obscured as the terminology and concepts used in these two research areas differ. In this thesis, by connecting these two areas, we begin the cross-fertilization of not only of the theoretical foundations of both areas but also of the existing solving technologies. We present the system EZSMT, one of the first solvers of this nature, which is able to take a large class of constraint answer set programs and rewrite them into Satisfiability Modulo Theories programs so that Satisfiability Modulo Theories technology can be used to process these programs.

Workers’ Attitudes Toward Sharing Information Based on Department Affiliation

Joanna Gardner IA, UNO

Advisor: Dr. Kerry Ward This presentation will report an exploratory study of employees’ opinions regarding when sharing information is acceptable. Information has value; sharing information may improve collaboration within organizations or damage organizations when individuals share information inappropriately, as in the case of insider threat. Attitudes toward sharing information may affect the circumstances when employees share information. Knowing how individual attitudes affect information sharing will enable organizations to encourage safe and beneficial information sharing. Four interviews were conducted to explore attitudes toward sharing information within a single company based on department affiliation. Two subject employees worked in a Software Development department conducting technical work and two subject employees worked in a Human Resources department conducting administrative work. Interview questions elicited the subjects’ opinions about when it is appropriate to share information with others. The subjects’ responses were categorized using rubrics specifically designed for this study. The analysis indicates that numerous variables, including department affiliation, organizational rank, category of information, understanding of who knows the information, customer identity, information ownership, and impact of sharing might affect workers’ attitudes toward information sharing. This presentation also introduces opportunities for future work and future questions to address.

Weaponizing Zero Days? There's an App for That! Ryan Grandgennett, Adam Schaal

IA, UNO Advisor: Dr. Bill Mahoney, Dr. Robin Gandhi

A zero-day vulnerability is defined as a previously unknown vulnerability in a technical system that can be exploited to negatively impact systems and system processes. It gets its name from the fact that once the vulnerability becomes public knowledge, the software developer has zero days to patch and mitigate any software flaws that could lead to exploitation of the system. What makes a zero-day exploit so damaging for information technology personnel is the fact that generally its unveiling is extremely public and can often lead to adversaries attempting to leverage the exploit against their unpatched systems. To make matters worse, if a zero-day exploit is weaponized, easily deployable, and readily available even non-technical users could exploit a previously secure system with the click of a button. With that said, our project involved weaponizing a zero-day vulnerability into an easily deployable and readily available package. In this presentation, we will demonstrate how we identified a vulnerability in Allen Bradley’s implementation of communications between its programming software and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). Our exploitation findings led to a complete authentication bypass and remote escalated privilege I/O commands. We then used these findings to create a mobile application with full exploit capabilities. Not only can we bypass authentication, but we can turn the PLC I/O on and off remotely – miles away from the critical infrastructure. This presentation will demonstrate how we were able to turn a vulnerability discovery investigation of PLC network communications into an easily deployable, readily available and simple-to-use mobile application of a zero-day exploit.

PhD Presentations

Forward Osmosis: Microelectrode Measurement of Concentration Profiles Ye Yuan

CIVE, UNO Advisor: Dr. Tian Zhang

In the forward osmosis (FO) process, concentration polarization (CP) reduces the solute concentration difference across the membrane, thereby significantly lowering the osmatic pressure difference (Δπ). The discrepancy between the experimental and predicted flux appears to increase at a higher ∆πTheoretical−showing a symptom of the so-called “self-limiting flux behavior.” To date, no experimental data exists to link the “self-limiting flux behavior” with the molecular diffusion of solute toward the membrane, the role of CP, and the bulk solute concentration (CDB). In this study, experiments were conducted by using Ca-selective microelectrodes to measure the concentration profiles within both the active- and supporting-layer of the membrane and within the concentration boundary layer (CBL) in an FO system under static conditions (i.e., no mixing in both feed and draw solution chambers). Results indicate that the estimated contribution of dilutive ECP, ICP within the active layer and concentrative ICP within the support layer to ΔπTheoretical reduction is around 15%, 80%, and 1%, respectively. At steady-state conditions, the draw solute concentration on the interface of the membrane and draw solution, CDM was about 85−93% of that in the bulk draw solution (CDB). The higher CDB would cause a lower CDM/CDB and a lower CFMA/CDB (CFMA = Ca2+ concentration at the active layer near the feed solution chamber), confirming the classic observation that the discrepancy between the experimental and predicted flux appears to increase at a higher ∆πTheoretical. Results indicate that the osmosis pressure in our FO system is more related to the concentration difference between the support layer (i.e., between CFMA and CFMS) and the bulk feed solution than to ΔπTheoretical or ΔπEffective

Rapid Screening of Testosterone in the Aquatic Environment Using Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) Mass Spectrometry

Yutian Lei CIVE, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Tian Zhang Testosterone (TES) in the aquatic environment was analyzed for the first time using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART MS) without any sample pretreatment. TES with the addition of 2H and its dehydration products were observed. The instrument parameters were studied systematically and optimized concerning the specific analyte. Limits of detection for the pure compound were 2.5 ng for TES spiked in raw wastewater samples and 500 pg in TES standards. The whole analysis time was within 1 minute. A simple derivatization of TES by hydroxylamine and introducing ammonia as dopant gas for the sensitivity and intensity enhancement were also investigated. Both methods improved the intensity of the TES signal by about two folds. The results of this study illustrate that DART MS is capable to detect TES in complicated matrixes and could realize the rapid and direct screening of TES in the aquatic environment at a low nanogram range for pure compound without coupling with any pretreatment tools.

Acieving 1 GBPS Over Step-Index Plastic Optical Fiber by Controlling the Effective Numerical Aperture

Naji Albakay CEEN, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Lim Nguyen We proposed to mitigate the effect of modal dispersion by reducing the effective NA of the fiber link. A simple spatial mode filtering technique has been experimentally demonstrated to improve the performance over a 30 m link, achieving a BER of 10-8 at 1 Gbps. This approach offers a simple and a cost-effective solution to deliver Gigabit Ethernet using NRZ signaling over short reach POF networks employing standard 1 mm SI-POF

Let’s Play to Learn Construction Saeed Rokooei

CONST, UNL Advisor: Dr. James Goedert

This paper briefly addresses the implementation and results of a three year research project at the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Virtual Interactive Construction Education (VICE) is a project-based pedagogical model in which the main goal was to provide project-based interactive learning methods as supplementary tools in construction engineering and management programs. The context of construction engineering and management curricula were split into six construction project prototypes. VICE-Bridge is the first modules of these six prototypes that exposed players to experiential problem solving activities toward achieving a goal situation. VICE consisted of three sections: PreQuiz, main simulation, and PostSurvey; and a quantitative method was utilized in this research. Seventy Three high school and twenty six college students participated in the VICE test. The data of pre-game quiz and actual performance of players were extracted and compared to show the difference between the knowledge gained through the VICE. In addition to actual performance, a self-evaluation retrospective survey was used to determine the participants’ perception about their construction knowledge gained. Moreover, level of engagement and increase of participants’ interests in STEM areas due to playing the simulation were measured. The project findings support development of more construction education modules and indicate that this particular simulation is an effective tool for this purpose.

PREDICTING CONSTRUCTION LABOR PRODUCTIVITY WITH BAYESIAN BELIEF NETWORKS

Ayoub Hazrati CONST, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Terence Foster, Dr. Eddy Rojas Construction labor productivity plays an important role in labor intensive projects. Therefore, increasing construction labor productivity is a vital task to decrease a project’s cost (time). The primary goal of this research is to investigate the feasibility of developing a comprehensive causal model that can predict construction labor productivity for various project’s situations, such as existence of “Adverse Weather,” “Changes,” “Working Overtime,” etc., while considering uncertainty. It is found that Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) is the best approach that can model causal relationships among different factors while considering uncertainty, simultaneously. Developing a BBNs model requires to extract its structure and, for each node in the network, set up a “Conditional Probability Table.” Extensive review of other scholars’ publications, regarding factors affecting construction labor productivity, allow us to extract cause-effect diagrams for each factor. These cause-effect networks are independent sub models that by applying various structures and parameters methodologies become a separate BBN. The final step of building the comprehensive model is to combine different sub models, which after 12 iterations and combining different sub models, the primary contribution of this research to the body of knowledge, which is developing the comprehensive model, is obtained. The model can do a variety of queries about the effects of a single variable, or a subset of variables, on a hypothesis variable. The findings from these queries is another contribution of this research. In this research, the hypothesis variable is the probability of “High productivity.” Various sensitivity analyses on the hypothesis variable reveals that for different network’s instantiations, the effects of similar variables are not the same. Also, it shows that the “Adverse Management Systems” can decline the probability of “High productivity,” whenever a project is in its perfect conditions, more than 70%. However, when a project is in its worst conditions, it can increase the probability of “High productivity” for less than 10%. From the main variables, “Stacking of Trades” has similar effects on the hypothesis variable with less severity. This research has wonderful applicability for project managers, cost estimators, and schedulers in their decision making process regarding costs and time of projects.

Generalized effect of condenser fouling and refrigerant charge effects on operating parameters of vapor compression systems

Mehdi Mehrabi AE, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Yuill Several laboratory experiments have studied the effect of faults on vapor compression cycle air-conditioning systems. There has been a particular focus on refrigerant charge variation, which is believed to be quite common in air conditioners, and a lesser focus on heat exchanger fouling. The majority of the published results evaluate the fault effects on particular system operating parameters in one unit. For example, the effect on capacity and efficiency are typically evaluated. The results differ from one study to the next. The current paper summarizes the effects for all of the results available in the literature for condenser fouling and refrigerant charge variation, and provides generalized relationships. The generalizations are provided for ANSI/AHRI 210/240 standard test conditions and are provided separately for fixed orifice and thermostatic expansion valve equipped systems. The level of variation found in the summary shows that for many applications, it is reasonable to the use generalized relationships to estimate the effect of faults on systems that have not been tested in a laboratory.

Granularity in the Fusion of Brain Networks Sean West

Informatics, UNO Advisor: Dr. Hesham Ali

The advent of Brain Imaging technologies has allowed for non-invasive mapping of brain functionality. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Magnetoencephalography, and Diffusion Tensor Imaging each use biochemical movement to detect neuronal activity and anatomical structure. These advanced technologies drive the need for complex theories and thorough models. Perhaps the most impactful is the implementation of networks to model brain region interaction. Further, meta-research dictates the need for cross-experiment and cross-technology data fusion. Fusion between brain networks will extend these models for statistically powerful analysis, giving us the most formidable information possible about the human brain. However, the fusion of these models has unknown sensitivities. In this research, we explore granularity, an uncertainty term which has a strong influence on the information extraction of other biomedical data fusion models. We define the qualities of the relationship between granularity and brain network fusion information extraction. Finally, we suggest statistical techniques to correct for the influence of granularity on the brain network data fusion.

Autonomous in-situ sensor calibration method in building systems Sungmin Yoon

AE, UNL Adviosr: Dr. Yuebin Yu

The role of building sensor networks is increasingly significant in building industry in that advanced building energy management, health diagnostics, and analytical optimization (MDO) are more remotely conducted based on measured data to improve building systems’ performance. However, various random and systematic errors of working sensors occur in real working conditions over time. These sensor errors could greatly misguide the MDO and lead to actions that negatively impact the building performance and indoor environment quality. In order to reduce the sensor errors practically, virtual in-situ sensor calibration methods have recently studied. It can overcome the practical problems of a conventional sensor calibration: (1) time and monetary cost; (2) disruption to a normal operation; (3) difficulty in accessing various embedded sensors; and (4) large quantity of sensors. It is also able to approximate the standards for a calibration statistically or by using system models, without removing the working sensor or adding reference sensors as in the conventional calibration. However, it is significantly difficult for these methods to be applied to the real operational systems because they should know which sensors are inaccurate within their sensor networks. In the real operational conditions, it is almost impossible to distinguish the erroneous sensors. We propose a sensor calibration method in building systems, termed autonomous in-situ calibration (AIC). This method is mathematically formulated as a constrained nonlinear optimization. Bayesian inference is used to derive statistically optimal solutions regarding the optimization-based calibration problem. A case study of a LiBr-H2O absorption refrigeration system demonstrates the AIC method.

Autonomous in-situ sensor calibration method in building systems Pouya Gholizadeh

CONST, UNL Advisor: Dr. Behzad Esmaeili

The role of building sensor networks is increasingly significant in building industry in that advanced building energy management, health diagnostics, and analytical optimization (MDO) are more remotely conducted based on measured data to improve building systems’ performance. However, various random and systematic errors of working sensors occur in real working conditions over time. These sensor errors could greatly misguide the MDO and lead to actions that negatively impact the building performance and indoor environment quality. In order to reduce the sensor errors practically, virtual in-situ sensor calibration methods have recently studied. It can overcome the practical problems of a conventional sensor calibration: (1) time and monetary cost; (2) disruption to a normal operation; (3) difficulty in accessing various embedded sensors; and (4) large quantity of sensors. It is also able to approximate the standards for a calibration statistically or by using system models, without removing the working sensor or adding reference sensors as in the conventional calibration. However, it is significantly difficult for these methods to be applied to the real operational systems because they should know which sensors are inaccurate within their sensor networks. In the real operational conditions, it is almost impossible to distinguish the erroneous sensors. We propose a sensor calibration method in building systems, termed autonomous in-situ calibration (AIC). This method is mathematically formulated as a constrained nonlinear optimization. Bayesian inference is used to derive statistically optimal solutions regarding the optimization-based calibration problem. A case study of a LiBr-H2O absorption refrigeration system demonstrates the AIC method.

Requirement Capture for a mHealth Telemedicine App to Support Certified Athletic Trainers with Concussion Assessment

Scott McGrath Informatics, UNO

Advisor: Kiran Bastola Annually, 1.6-3.8 million concussions occur from sports in the United States, which account for 5-9% of all sports injuries. The dangers of concussions include prolonged post-concussive symptoms, increased risk of subsequent concussions, seizures, mental health issues, and in cases of second-impact syndrome (SIS), possible death. Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) continue to serve an important role in providing assessment and treating athletes for sports-related injuries. They provide a critical safety net due to limited knowledge and misconceptions of concussion held by some youth sports coaches and athletes. However, availability of services from ATCs in rural areas is a challenge. In order to help extend ATC-service coverage to more rural student athletes, we propose using designing a telemedicine tool for ATCs following the mHealth development roadmap from the Center for eHealth Research (CeHRes). In this paper we will document the user requirements capture and design phases from CeHRes for this project.

Exploring Relationship Between Evapotranspiration and Groundwater Level Fluctuations in Different Land Covers

Foad Foolad CIVE, UNL

Advisor: Dr. Franz Groundwater is often the most reliable source of water in arid and semiarid regions. In order to achieve sustainable groundwater management, specifically in the agricultural sector, a more detailed accounting of water balance terms in space and time should be investigated. While the impact of evapotranspiration (ET) on stream flow has been discussed in many studies, the relationship between ET and groundwater levels has yet to be sufficiently explored. One of the largest concerns of water resource planners in groundwater conservation is water losses through ET. Some planners believe that by controlling deep rooted plants or replacing them with shallower rooted plants would reduce groundwater losses through ET processes and potentially provide greater water resources for human consumption. In this research, we investigated the relationship between ET and groundwater level fluctuation in 3 different land covers across a 1.2 km gradient in central Nebraska: cottonwood, wetland, and grassland areas. The results reveal that while there was a strong relationship between hourly actual ET and hourly groundwater level fluctuations in the cottonwood area for most of the days during the study period, ET did not directly affect the groundwater level in the wetland and grassland areas. The results here indicate the diurnal influence that the deep rooted plants have on localized water table elevations and ET fluxes.

Efficient Parallel Algorithms for Analyzing Dynamic Networks Sriram

CSCI, UNO Advisor: Dr. Sanjukta Bhowmick

Network analysis has important applications in a variety of disciplines including bioinformatics, software engineering, and social sciences. In most of these areas, the network evolves over time, and the analysis results have to be updated. However, there are very few parallel algorithms for updating the properties of such dynamic networks. My research present,open Mp algorithms, that can be executed on multi-core clusters, for updating the connected components on weighted graphs. Algorithm is based on a method known as graph sparsification that can transform graph operations into a reduction-like format. Initial sxperiments on random, scale-free and real-world networks show that method is very scalable and can be significantly faster than re-computing the properties using state of the art methods. I propose a template that can be used for updating other types of weighted trees as well. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first parallel algorithm for updating weighted dynamic networks.